OLD GODS, NEW RELIGIONS, AND MODERN MARRIAGES IN NEPAL Emily McKendry-Smith A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology. Chapel Hill 2013 Approved by: Lisa D. Pearce Jacqueline Hagan Kenneth (Andy) Andrews Philip N. Cohen Christian Smith © 2013 Emily McKendry-Smith ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Emily McKendry-Smith: Old Gods, New Religions, and Modern Marriages in Nepal (Under the direction of Lisa Pearce) This dissertation is a set of three papers broadly focused on the role of religion in a context of rapid social change associated with modernization and development. My research design comprises two areas of data collection at three Brahma Kumari centers in Chitwan, Nepal: participant observation at daily religious services and in-depth interviews with female devotees. I complement this with statistical analyses on spousal choice and religious salience using survey data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study. In the first chapter I address the paradox that in Nepal, religion appears to be shifting from individual to communal worship, in contrast to the belief of many scholars that modernity has a privatizing and individualizing effect on religion. I find that due to unique features of Nepali homes, the role of puja in Nepali society, and perceptions of the Brahma Kumaris lead to a case where puja in the home is public and congregational meditation is private. In the second chapter, I address how the Brahma Kumaris frame their movement in relation to value-laden ideas about modernity and how this framing influences acceptance of their “strict” demands. I find that Nepalis tend to accept and follow the group’s strict demands when those demands have been framed as modern and that framing is resonant with the prevailing definitions of modernity offered by Western development agencies. When the iii modern framing is not resonant, the strict demand is not followed and the frame itself is rejected in favor of the practice being defined in different terms. My third chapter employs data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study. I examine the relationship between education, religious salience, and the practice of arranged marriage, using interaction terms to examine how religious salience may moderate the relationship between spousal choice and education, and I find a significant interaction between respondent years of education and average neighborhood religious salience. I explain this using the “moral communities thesis,” a theory suggesting a relationship between a community’s religious characteristics and levels of deviance. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, although I cannot list them by name, I thank my respondents and all others attending services at the Brahma Kumari centers in “Subhapur”, “Bistanagar”, and “Gaida Chowk.” I feel honored to have been welcomed into their religious lives and hope that this document reflects the sincere esteem I hold them in. Among the Brahma Kumaris, I also thank Vijaya Sigdel and the other surrendered sisters and brothers who enriched my life and aided me immeasurably in my research. In addition, I thank all the other surrendered and lay members of the Brahma Kumaris I met during my stay in Nepal. I also owe a great debt of thanks to my academic advisor, Dr. Lisa Pearce. Her guidance and prompting allowed me to take my writing to a higher level than I could have achieved on my own, for which I am extremely grateful. I also thank my dissertation committee members, Dr. Jacqueline Hagan, Dr. Kenneth (Andy) Andrews, Dr. Philip Cohen, and Dr. Christian Smith. I thank the staff of the Institute for Social and Environmental Research in Fulbari, Chitwan. Among them, I have particular thanks for Raksha Joshi. Without her dedication, willingness to learn, and quick and creative thinking, the fieldwork portion of this research would not have been possible. At ISER, I also thank Krishna Ghimire, Bishnu Adhikari, Indra Chaudhary, Krishna Lama, Rajendra Ghimire, Prem Prakash Pandit, Gita Subedi, Arati Ghale, Bimala Pokharel, Bhuma Kumar, Sita Chaudary, Bhagawati Neupane, and Debaki Darai. I thank Bamdev Adhikari, Rishi Ram Neupane, and Bimal Darai for not only supporting my research, but being great friends during my stay in Nepal. Similarly, I thank Dambar Bahadur Ghale and v Birkha Raj Ghale for the tea and conversation that went above and beyond their duties as night gaurds. I thank Deepa Adhikari and Sabitha Ghimire for the invaluable assistances they rendered to my research. In particular, I thank Deepa for introducing me to the Brahma Kumaris, letting me hang out and eat at her shop, and helping me always have the right kurta surwar for the occasion. I thank Sabitha for accompanying me to the Women’s Empowerment Trainings and the 7-day class in Bistangar, as well as for letting me spend time in her home. Finally, I thank all the households in Subhapur and surrounding areas who welcomed me into their midst, particularly the family of Apana Sharma. I thank the many additional friends I made over the course of my research, including Anup Ghimire, Kamala Luitel, Kabita Chaudhary Kabu, Sabitri Chaudhary, Krishna Shrestha, Ram Rijal, and Bhim Bhattarai. I particularly thank Maya Devi Ale and Chandra Thapa for their help with transportation. I thank the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Religious Research Association, and University of North Carolina for the grants that allowed me to conduct this research; I thank the Odum Institute at UNC for managing these grants. I thank Dr. Dirgha Ghimire for facilitating my involvement with ISER and Dr. Amy Mehreban Pienta, Dr. Arland Thornton, and Dr. Sarah Brauner-Otto for advising me on my research during their own stays in Nepal. I thank Cornell University’s Summer Intensive Nepali program and its faculty, Dr. Kathryn March, Shambhu Oja, and Banu Oja. I thank Dr. Cathy Zimmer for aiding me with statistical analyses and for providing friendship and tremendous moral support. I thank Lisa Pearce’s other graduate students who read and provided feedback on these papers, including Jessica Pearlman, Jane Lee, Raquel Zanatta, and Karam Hwang. I also thank conference attendees who heard versions of vi these papers at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and Association for the Study of Religion annual conferences, as well as members of UNC’s Culture and Politics Workshop. Finally, I thank my friends and family who supported me throughout my time in graduate school. These include Kayo Suzuki, Tiantian Yang, Rachana Rao Umashankar, Megan Goodwin, and Laura Wagner. I thank my Nepali conversation partners, Desh Bandhu Nepal, Shradha Shrestha, and the Biswa family. Most importantly, I thank Wayne and Peggy Smith, Brian Smith, and Anne Hunter for their support, advice, and encouragement. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES..........................................................................................................................xi LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................xii INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: PUBLIC HOUSEHOLD, PRIVATE CONGREGATION: THE BRAHMA KUMARIS AND PUBLIC/PRIVATE RELIGION IN NEPAL.....................................................4 Introduction..........................................................................................................................4 Theoretical Background...........................................................................................5 The Brahma Kumaris.............................................................................................10 Setting....................................................................................................................12 Methods..............................................................................................................................14 The Centers............................................................................................................14 Center Observations...............................................................................................15 Interviews..............................................................................................................16 Results................................................................................................................................18 Puja as Public.........................................................................................................18 The Brahma Kumaris as Private............................................................................23 Discussion..........................................................................................................................33 CHAPTER 1 REFERENCES........................................................................................................36 viii CHAPTER 2: “BABA HAS COME TO CIVILIZE US”: DEVELOPMENTAL IDEALISM AND FRAMING THE STRICT DEMANDS OF THE BRAHMA KUMARIS..........................39 Introduction........................................................................................................................39 Theoretical Background.........................................................................................40 Framing Perspective...............................................................................................44